NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 12, 2005

Gregg Popovich

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Robert, he had a great first half. He looked like he was 26 or 27. I mean, he's playing defense, going to the opposite side of the floor to block shots, he's rebounding, moving the ball, shooting the ball, driving it, he had a couple of drives that was really impressive to me. He summons the energy up for that once in a while. His floor game and his experience in the first half was really important for us.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, Bruce, you know, he did what he always does. He takes great pride in trying to make somebody on the other team work harder and tonight he combined it with knocking down some threes. He didn't have a whole lot of luck the first game with the threes but tonight he found it, and so, you know, all the way around, he was also valuable. You know, having said that, those two guys played great, but the guy that won't get credit will be Tony Parker because he didn't score a lot of points but he was really efficient tonight. I thought he played great defense. I thought he really set the tone for us, picking up off the floor and trying to get a little spread out. His shooting was real efficient and scoring, and that really does help us when he plays that kind of a game. So he really was important to start the first half.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No, not at all. Nothing's easy. I mean, I think they had a poor night shooting tonight. I don't know what they ended up with, but at least in the first half, they had a tough time making shots. I think we played pretty good D, but they also missed some shots. I don't think anything is easy. Everybody is out there working very hard. It's very physical, bodies are knocking and we made shots tonight. Obviously Manu made, you know, a lot of threes and Bruce made his threes, that really helps us offensively. So that made tonight's game look easy, but the guys are banging pretty hard out there. When it got down to eight, it could easily go from eight to two. It went back up to 15 because we made a shot or two. It's a lot closer than the score looks, I think.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I was really pleased with the way they reacted to the win. I think it's easier to react well after a loss, and I think good teams do that. You know, all of us have done that all year long, the top six, eight, ten teams in the league. But even teams that aren't that good will always come back with a little bit more energy after a loss, but it gets more difficult after a win to come back and understand how that subconscious sort of complacency can set in, even if you say all the right words and think you're doing the right thing, just a little bit of a pleasant feeling about yourself after a win, especially in the playoffs, and you can't allow that to happen. You have to keep an appropriate fear of your opponent so that complacency will dissipate as soon as possible.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: He did a good job. He started out a little bit shaky on the court, and when you have Chauncey Billups and Lindsey Hunter on you, that can happen when you're a rookie. I thought he got stronger and a little bit more confident as he went along, at the seven, at the six, at the five, we're thinking we're getting Tony back, we're getting Tony back and the score went back up to 15 and we thought this was a great opportunity to give him some minutes and let him continue to play. So I thought he did well.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: No. No. I hate jumpshots. I like layups. (Laughter) But Manu doesn't listen to me. Bruce doesn't listen to me. Timmy's out there, and we've got to space the floor, and he allows us to do that. And if teams move the basketball, somebody is going to get open at some point. I think that if you've got a three, you've got to shoot it. Our guys are shooting pretty well in the playoffs so far, and we need to continue to do it.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Are you trying to get me in trouble? (Laughter). I honestly didn't notice how many were layups and how many were jumpshots.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: We were very concerned about trying to make stop and trying to get the boards, and really what we concentrated on the first half was talking to our players about how we were getting beat on the board. I think we did, it was 11-4 on the offensive board the first half, and that was one of our goals in the first half. We did not accomplish it in any way, shape or form, so so much for coaching.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: With all due respect, we didn't play zone. Sorry. (Laughter). Maybe you were listening because we talked about it, that's what you meant, and you're right we did talk about zone.

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: I'm sure there's confusion, but we didn't play zone. (Laughter).

COACH GREGG POPOVICH: Well, it's true, we've been at both ends of the spectrum, so I just have to say that the guys are pretty flexible, pretty balanced. It's a pretty balanced team in that sense. We can score points and we're trying to run and I think everybody's always got us figured as a halfcourt team for some reason. I've never really understood that, but I guess we all need a label. It makes things neater. But with Manu and with Tony, with Bruce running the floor, we're able to score. And against Phoenix, if you don't score, you're not going to win because as you all know, we held Stoudemire to 40 a game and Nash got his, we needed to score or we weren't going to win. This is a different series, this is more of a defensive series. We could very easily go to Detroit, not make shots and they start knocking them down and the whole thing changes very quickly.